# CVE-2026-98338: wifi: cfg80211: ibss: ref BSS entry for joined event

CVE-2026-98338 is fixed in linux on 1 platform by DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98338 (version 7.2.8-1), released October 6, 2026. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: Urgent.

- Web page: https://patchblox.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-98338
- Priority: Urgent
- CVSS: 9.8 (Critical)
- EPSS: 0.0016
- CISA KEV: not listed
- Exploited (vendor report): no
- Publicly disclosed: no
- Published: Oct 6, 2026
- Vendor advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98338

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:  wifi: cfg80211: ibss: ref BSS entry for joined event  When the IBSS is joined, we only record the BSSID/channel in the event and look up the BSS entry when processing it. However, that's racy, e.g. a new scan with NL80211_SCAN_FLAG_FLUSH can remove it, causing a warning in the event work:    !bss   WARNING: net/wireless/ibss.c:37 at __cfg80211_ibss_joined+0x3d3/0x440   Workqueue: cfg80211 cfg80211_event_work    cfg80211_process_wdev_events+0x39f/0x5b0 net/wireless/util.c:1144    cfg80211_process_rdev_events+0xa1/0x110 net/wireless/util.c:1179    cfg80211_event_work+0x2f/0x40 net/wireless/core.c:393  Do the lookup early (the driver is expected to only join an IBSS that has a BSS entry) and keep a reference to it.

## Where it's fixed

| Platform | Product | Fixed in | Fix | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | linux Debian 14 | 7.2.8-1 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98338](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2026-98338.md) | Oct 6, 2026 |

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Data as of 2026-11-08T13:06:02Z UTC. Source: Patchblox Patch Radar (https://patchblox.com/security/patch-radar). Patchblox finds out-of-date software on Windows, macOS and Linux and updates it through release rings: https://patchblox.com/demo

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